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The Edge of Everything
Safe Harbor
In this charming coming-of-age short story from New York Times bestselling authors Nicola Yoon and David Yoon, a group of teens’ lives collide when they’re brought together under unconventional circumstances—forcing them to confront hidden truths and personal secrets.
For Isabel, the artist who no longer believes in love, Safe Harbor’s therapy program is just another checklist item to survive her parents’ divorce. But what begins as a tense session filled with mistrust and heartbreak blooms into something that neither Isabel nor the other teens in the program could have expected. Maybe it’s time to begin again?
Nicola Yoon and David Yoon’s Safe Harbor is part of The Edge of Everything, a collection of short coming-of-age stories of first love, messy choices, and self-discovery. Each story can be read or listened to in one sitting.
For Isabel, the artist who no longer believes in love, Safe Harbor’s therapy program is just another checklist item to survive her parents’ divorce. But what begins as a tense session filled with mistrust and heartbreak blooms into something that neither Isabel nor the other teens in the program could have expected. Maybe it’s time to begin again?
Nicola Yoon and David Yoon’s Safe Harbor is part of The Edge of Everything, a collection of short coming-of-age stories of first love, messy choices, and self-discovery. Each story can be read or listened to in one sitting.
47 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2026
About the author
Nicola Yoon
27 books19k followersNicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Both her novels have been made into major motion pictures. Nicola grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, novelist David Yoon, and their family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A camp brings together a volatile mix of adolescents carrying different scars- some are casualties of weaponized, messy divorces and others are ghosts in their own homes, raised by chronic absenteeism. A few carry the suffocating weight of much darker, more complicated family secrets. Though their backgrounds are different to a vast extent, they share a common, unspoken anger toward the people who were supposed to protect them. As the therapy forces them to strip away their defense mechanisms, these teens go through forced vulnerability. In a world where the adults have proven untrustworthy, they are left with a choice:
continue sinking under the weight of their resentment or build their own harbor in each other.
Dealing with heavy topics like loneliness and feeling misunderstood in under 50 pages wasn't the best choice in my opinion. It just didn't go deep enough. But I have to give the authors credit who did a great job creating a relatable group of characters whose struggles felt very real.
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Pub Date: 23 June 2026
continue sinking under the weight of their resentment or build their own harbor in each other.
Dealing with heavy topics like loneliness and feeling misunderstood in under 50 pages wasn't the best choice in my opinion. It just didn't go deep enough. But I have to give the authors credit who did a great job creating a relatable group of characters whose struggles felt very real.
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Pub Date: 23 June 2026
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
a heartwarming short story that focuses on an important topic, but… I really wish the execution had been different. the reasoning behind the teens' actions isn't revealed until after they do stuff, which is pretty standard for most stories, but here, it made their behavior feel so over-the-top and comical at first that by the time everything was explained, I just couldn't take it seriously.
at some places, it felt like I was reading a script of an SNL sketch about a bunch of teens that go to therapy to deal with their parents' divorce 😭
── .✦ pre-read 𖹭.ᐟ
I need to increase my feedback ratio on netgalley immediately cause I'm waiting on a request so... I'm gonna read these novellas and hope for the best! 🫣
at some places, it felt like I was reading a script of an SNL sketch about a bunch of teens that go to therapy to deal with their parents' divorce 😭
── .✦ pre-read 𖹭.ᐟ
I need to increase my feedback ratio on netgalley immediately cause I'm waiting on a request so... I'm gonna read these novellas and hope for the best! 🫣
June 27, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Nicola Yoon & David Yoon for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
a cute little story about a therapy group for teenagers of divorced parents. while things were wrapped up a bit too quick & neatly and preethi annoyed the shit out of me with her brainrot, the bonding & wedding was sweet. i resonated especially with isabel's thoughts on her parents' divorce ~ how can you still believe in love when your own parents don't anymore? im happy that she found a bit of solace in gray 🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐
ᨒ ོ 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 ₊˚⊹ ㅅ ⚓︎
i heard this is disappointing and i was like yes please give here
a cute little story about a therapy group for teenagers of divorced parents. while things were wrapped up a bit too quick & neatly and preethi annoyed the shit out of me with her brainrot, the bonding & wedding was sweet. i resonated especially with isabel's thoughts on her parents' divorce ~ how can you still believe in love when your own parents don't anymore? im happy that she found a bit of solace in gray 🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐
ᨒ ོ 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 ₊˚⊹ ㅅ ⚓︎
i heard this is disappointing and i was like yes please give here
June 25, 2026
this was a fine read, could’ve been better ?? idk maybe it needed to be more developed or just written in longer form… i don’t have any real thoughts on this tbh…
one book closer to my goal! 😅🥳
one book closer to my goal! 😅🥳
June 14, 2026
Safe Harbor is if group therapy met The Breakfast Club. I enjoyed this novella and thought it was a great succinct way to illustrate the benefits of grieving together.
June 26, 2026
Millennial brainrot.
Who talks like that? Also, using "narcissists" as an insult in a book about therapy is a choice. An educated and bad one.
The kids are sweet and their hearts are in the right place, but..the adults changing in just two months, drastically? Please.
What a weird story. Almost felt like a cringe Netflix script.
Who talks like that? Also, using "narcissists" as an insult in a book about therapy is a choice. An educated and bad one.
The kids are sweet and their hearts are in the right place, but..the adults changing in just two months, drastically? Please.
What a weird story. Almost felt like a cringe Netflix script.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was probably one of the more relatable stories in The Edge of Everything collection for me.
Safe Harbor follows a group of teenagers attending a therapy program. Their situations may be different, but they all have one thing in common: the adults in their lives have let them down in one way or another. Some are dealing with parents going through messy divorces, some have absent parents, and others are carrying the weight of more complicated family situations.
Like many teenagers struggling with circumstances beyond their control, they've been labeled as "problem kids."
Honestly? Been there, done that.
What I appreciated most about this story was how real it felt. Beneath the short page count, there's a lot about loneliness, anger, feeling misunderstood, and trying to navigate changes that you never asked for.
Despite its serious themes, the story also carries a sense of hope. Watching these teens slowly open up and realize they aren't alone was genuinely heartwarming.
At only around 40 pages, there's only so much character development possible, but I thought the authors did a good job creating a group of characters whose struggles felt authentic.
I think a lot of readers will be able to relate to this one; both teenagers currently living through similar situations and adults who remember what it felt like to be that age.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC.
https://turnthepagewithana.blogspot.c...
Safe Harbor follows a group of teenagers attending a therapy program. Their situations may be different, but they all have one thing in common: the adults in their lives have let them down in one way or another. Some are dealing with parents going through messy divorces, some have absent parents, and others are carrying the weight of more complicated family situations.
Like many teenagers struggling with circumstances beyond their control, they've been labeled as "problem kids."
Honestly? Been there, done that.
What I appreciated most about this story was how real it felt. Beneath the short page count, there's a lot about loneliness, anger, feeling misunderstood, and trying to navigate changes that you never asked for.
Despite its serious themes, the story also carries a sense of hope. Watching these teens slowly open up and realize they aren't alone was genuinely heartwarming.
At only around 40 pages, there's only so much character development possible, but I thought the authors did a good job creating a group of characters whose struggles felt authentic.
I think a lot of readers will be able to relate to this one; both teenagers currently living through similar situations and adults who remember what it felt like to be that age.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC.
https://turnthepagewithana.blogspot.c...
June 25, 2026
I think a novella like this does have potential but for me this just didn’t really hit the way I guess it was supposed to. The characters felt very over the top and stereotypical and just like ticking a box for one way a typical teenager would typically behave and even though that got addressed towards the end of the story, it was still handled in a way that just felt very cliché for me. Maybe I’m just not the right audience for this, and someone a little younger might enjoy this novella far more though!
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!
June 14, 2026
✨
I really enjoyed this short story. This follows a teenager who is required to complete a group therapy session for teenagers whose parents are going through a divorce. I felt the author did a great job of character development in this short story. You learn a bit about each character and see growth of the characters within the 50 pages. Perfect blend of comedy and emotion to the story. Overall a great quick read.
Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing the book for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed this short story. This follows a teenager who is required to complete a group therapy session for teenagers whose parents are going through a divorce. I felt the author did a great job of character development in this short story. You learn a bit about each character and see growth of the characters within the 50 pages. Perfect blend of comedy and emotion to the story. Overall a great quick read.
Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing the book for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 26, 2026
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this ARC.
This short story was so good!!! I loved it so much. It was so powerful. Its definitely a great emotional short read.
Its definitely something a lot of people can relate to. Set at a group therapy session with children that have parents that are divorced, its pretty sad, but really good.
The ending didn't feel abrupt, and I didn't feel like I missed anything by it being short.
Content warnings: Divorce, drinking, cursing, mental abuse, depression, anger issues.
Thank you, Nicola Yoon and David Yoon for this short story.
This short story was so good!!! I loved it so much. It was so powerful. Its definitely a great emotional short read.
Its definitely something a lot of people can relate to. Set at a group therapy session with children that have parents that are divorced, its pretty sad, but really good.
The ending didn't feel abrupt, and I didn't feel like I missed anything by it being short.
Content warnings: Divorce, drinking, cursing, mental abuse, depression, anger issues.
Thank you, Nicola Yoon and David Yoon for this short story.
June 15, 2026
This was a thoughtful story about teens dealing with their parents' divorces and the emotions that come with it. I liked seeing how differently each character handled the situation and how they found support in one another along the way.
The friendships felt genuine, and Ms. Waters was a great source of guidance. It's a short but meaningful read, and I would have loved to spend more time with these characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The friendships felt genuine, and Ms. Waters was a great source of guidance. It's a short but meaningful read, and I would have loved to spend more time with these characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Did Not Finish
June 26, 2026I tried reading this but it was pretty awful. Didn’t like any of the characters, they kept swearing, and one of the character’s parents are getting divorced because the mom decided she was gay. So, yeah. Couldn’t even finish it and it was only like 40 smth pages….
June 25, 2026
3.75 (rounded up)
A group of teenagers come together at a summer therapy program to share their experiences. I enjoyed the story for what it was but honestly, this was too short and I wanted more! The audiobook was narrated by Alaska Jackson, who was able to voice different characters easily so that the listener could distinguish between the voices.
Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing | Amazon Original Stories for the opportunity to listen to an Advanced Listener's Copy (ALC). All thoughts are my own.
A group of teenagers come together at a summer therapy program to share their experiences. I enjoyed the story for what it was but honestly, this was too short and I wanted more! The audiobook was narrated by Alaska Jackson, who was able to voice different characters easily so that the listener could distinguish between the voices.
Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing | Amazon Original Stories for the opportunity to listen to an Advanced Listener's Copy (ALC). All thoughts are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Isabel arrives at Safe Harbor absolutely determined to have a bad time. Her parents are getting divorced. She's been voluntold into a therapy program for teens dealing with divorce. She's spending her summer on a college campus with a group of strangers who probably want to talk about emotions. From her perspective, this is basically a hostage situation.
Unfortunately for Isabel, the other kids have the audacity to become actual people. That's really the whole magic trick of Safe Harbor. At first, Isabel does what most of us do when we're uncomfortable. She immediately starts categorizing everybody. She's got opinions. She's making assumptions. She's mentally sorting people into boxes before anyone has even introduced themselves. Then the group starts talking and suddenly everyone has a story that makes you go, "Oh. Okay. That explains a lot."
Which, honestly, is kind of the entire lesson. What I liked is that nobody's trying to win the Trauma Olympics. Every kid in the room is dealing with the same basic problem, but the fallout looks completely different for each of them. Some are angry. Some are hurt. Some are pretending they're fine with the energy of a person actively holding together a collapsing IKEA bookshelf.
And because this is a novella, these kids make about three months of emotional progress in a single afternoon. Which is not how therapy works. But it is how novellas work, so I accepted it and kept moving.
The audiobook really helped sell all of this. Alaska Jackson absolutely understood Isabel. The sarcasm lands. The frustration lands. The moments where she's pretending not to care while very obviously caring land. She gives Isabel the exact amount of teenage exasperation required for this story to work.
The thing that surprised me most is how attached I got to the group. These are basically five kids sitting in a circle discussing one of the most disruptive things that can happen to a family, and somehow by the end I wanted to follow all of them home and see what happened next.
That's actually my biggest complaint. The second everyone got interesting, the story ended. I wanted more friendships. More awkward conversations. More time with these characters. More of everything, honestly. The novella format works, but this easily could've supported a full novel.
By the end, I landed around 3.5 stars. Safe Harbor is sweet, funny, surprisingly heartfelt, and understands that teenagers are often carrying around way more than adults give them credit for. It's also proof that sometimes the people who understand you best are the strangers sitting beside you.
Huge thanks to Brilliance Publishing, Amazon Original Stories, and NetGalley for the ALC and ARC. I came for a quick audiobook, stayed for the emotionally chaotic therapy group, and left wishing these kids had another session scheduled next week.
Unfortunately for Isabel, the other kids have the audacity to become actual people. That's really the whole magic trick of Safe Harbor. At first, Isabel does what most of us do when we're uncomfortable. She immediately starts categorizing everybody. She's got opinions. She's making assumptions. She's mentally sorting people into boxes before anyone has even introduced themselves. Then the group starts talking and suddenly everyone has a story that makes you go, "Oh. Okay. That explains a lot."
Which, honestly, is kind of the entire lesson. What I liked is that nobody's trying to win the Trauma Olympics. Every kid in the room is dealing with the same basic problem, but the fallout looks completely different for each of them. Some are angry. Some are hurt. Some are pretending they're fine with the energy of a person actively holding together a collapsing IKEA bookshelf.
And because this is a novella, these kids make about three months of emotional progress in a single afternoon. Which is not how therapy works. But it is how novellas work, so I accepted it and kept moving.
The audiobook really helped sell all of this. Alaska Jackson absolutely understood Isabel. The sarcasm lands. The frustration lands. The moments where she's pretending not to care while very obviously caring land. She gives Isabel the exact amount of teenage exasperation required for this story to work.
The thing that surprised me most is how attached I got to the group. These are basically five kids sitting in a circle discussing one of the most disruptive things that can happen to a family, and somehow by the end I wanted to follow all of them home and see what happened next.
That's actually my biggest complaint. The second everyone got interesting, the story ended. I wanted more friendships. More awkward conversations. More time with these characters. More of everything, honestly. The novella format works, but this easily could've supported a full novel.
By the end, I landed around 3.5 stars. Safe Harbor is sweet, funny, surprisingly heartfelt, and understands that teenagers are often carrying around way more than adults give them credit for. It's also proof that sometimes the people who understand you best are the strangers sitting beside you.
Huge thanks to Brilliance Publishing, Amazon Original Stories, and NetGalley for the ALC and ARC. I came for a quick audiobook, stayed for the emotionally chaotic therapy group, and left wishing these kids had another session scheduled next week.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
🚨 SPOILER ALERT: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
I am giving Safe Harbor by Nicola Yoon and David Yoon an absolute 5-star review! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I liked it a lot! This is a cute short story/novella in the latest Amazon Original Stories collection, The Edge of Everything series. It is an incredibly thoughtful, relatable, and beautifully crafted piece that is absolutely perfect to download and dive into on your Kindle screen.
ARC Disclosure: Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing an early digital review copy (eARC). All thoughts and reflections shared here are entirely my own.
The Review
Safe Harbor introduces us to a highly emotional and grounded contemporary narrative that explores how sudden family fractures impact young adult lives. The story centers around a supportive group setting where young people are given a space to process major life upheavals. The narrative moves at a wonderful pace, focusing deeply on the emotional realities of its characters rather than relying on dramatic gimmicks. It masterfully balances the heavy, authentic burden of family changes with the sweet, budding hope of new relationships and mutual understanding.
The Good
I totally enjoyed it! Main characters Grant and Isabel are in their late teens and dealing with their parents' divorce as best they can while learning to like each other too. Their connection feels incredibly sweet and authentic. The other members of the group are also great examples of different ways to cope with divorce, providing a beautiful spectrum of representation.
As a teacher of teens myself, I think this story was spot on in showing how teens feel and react to this kind of event in their lives. The emotional accuracy, the defense mechanisms, and the eventual vulnerability displayed by the characters are entirely authentic. It's incredibly refreshing to see young adult fiction capture adolescent voices with such profound respect and clarity.
The Not So Good
Absolutely nothing! For a short story format, the authors managed to flesh out the emotional arcs beautifully. My only wish is that it lasted longer because the characters and their dynamics were just that wonderful to read!
I am giving Safe Harbor by Nicola Yoon and David Yoon an absolute 5-star review! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I liked it a lot! This is a cute short story/novella in the latest Amazon Original Stories collection, The Edge of Everything series. It is an incredibly thoughtful, relatable, and beautifully crafted piece that is absolutely perfect to download and dive into on your Kindle screen.
ARC Disclosure: Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing an early digital review copy (eARC). All thoughts and reflections shared here are entirely my own.
The Review
Safe Harbor introduces us to a highly emotional and grounded contemporary narrative that explores how sudden family fractures impact young adult lives. The story centers around a supportive group setting where young people are given a space to process major life upheavals. The narrative moves at a wonderful pace, focusing deeply on the emotional realities of its characters rather than relying on dramatic gimmicks. It masterfully balances the heavy, authentic burden of family changes with the sweet, budding hope of new relationships and mutual understanding.
The Good
I totally enjoyed it! Main characters Grant and Isabel are in their late teens and dealing with their parents' divorce as best they can while learning to like each other too. Their connection feels incredibly sweet and authentic. The other members of the group are also great examples of different ways to cope with divorce, providing a beautiful spectrum of representation.
As a teacher of teens myself, I think this story was spot on in showing how teens feel and react to this kind of event in their lives. The emotional accuracy, the defense mechanisms, and the eventual vulnerability displayed by the characters are entirely authentic. It's incredibly refreshing to see young adult fiction capture adolescent voices with such profound respect and clarity.
The Not So Good
Absolutely nothing! For a short story format, the authors managed to flesh out the emotional arcs beautifully. My only wish is that it lasted longer because the characters and their dynamics were just that wonderful to read!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I picked this up expecting a group of angry, angsty teens constantly butting heads with each other. Instead, I got something much warmer and softer than I anticipated.
The story gave me major Breakfast Club vibes, especially as the characters slowly started seeing each other as actual people instead of stereotypes. One of my favorite details was Isabel resketching portraits of her classmates after getting to know them better. There was something really touching about that. It felt like such a simple but meaningful way to show how much our perceptions of people can change once we look beyond our first impressions.
The romance was mostly kept in the background, but every little hint of it was incredibly cute. I honestly wish there had been more because I got invested way too quickly. By the end, I wasn't ready to leave these characters behind and would happily read a full-length novel about them.
Ms. Waters was another highlight for me. She managed to be funny, strict, and caring all at the same time. I especially appreciated how she treated the kids with respect and helped them understand that the things they were feeling weren't weird or wrong and how she opened up about her loss so that the group could relate to her. She was exactly the kind of adult these teens needed.
My biggest complaint is that it was over so quickly. I wanted more time with the characters, more of their relationships, and definitely more of the romance. This felt like a story that could have easily been expanded into a full novel and I want at least 5 of those lol.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
The story gave me major Breakfast Club vibes, especially as the characters slowly started seeing each other as actual people instead of stereotypes. One of my favorite details was Isabel resketching portraits of her classmates after getting to know them better. There was something really touching about that. It felt like such a simple but meaningful way to show how much our perceptions of people can change once we look beyond our first impressions.
The romance was mostly kept in the background, but every little hint of it was incredibly cute. I honestly wish there had been more because I got invested way too quickly. By the end, I wasn't ready to leave these characters behind and would happily read a full-length novel about them.
Ms. Waters was another highlight for me. She managed to be funny, strict, and caring all at the same time. I especially appreciated how she treated the kids with respect and helped them understand that the things they were feeling weren't weird or wrong and how she opened up about her loss so that the group could relate to her. She was exactly the kind of adult these teens needed.
My biggest complaint is that it was over so quickly. I wanted more time with the characters, more of their relationships, and definitely more of the romance. This felt like a story that could have easily been expanded into a full novel and I want at least 5 of those lol.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
⋆ 𖤓 ⋆˚࿔ TL;DR: A quick, fun read that made me chuckle yet want to cry and hug them all. 🫂😭❤️🩹
〖 ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: We Are Not Alone by Karla Devito 〗
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 0:55 ───ㅇ───── 3:37
⋆ 𖤓 ⋆˚࿔ A group of heartbroken and distrustful teens who don’t want to do the therapy program (well, except for one), but learn that they are all hurting and have more things in common than their parents being divorced? Yeah, it was giving The Breakfast Club vibes, and I loved it!
My heart went out to the entire group of Safe Harbor’s therapy program. I know what it’s like to have front row seats to a contentious marriage, wondering where it all went wrong and when they stopped loving each other, if they loved each other at all. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have gone to a therapy session like Isabel and the others did when I was younger. Oh well. Better late than never.
Anyways, this is another short story in the series I wish were a full-length novel because I want to know more about Isabel, Gray, Preethi, Lilliam, Joey, and Ms. Waters. I mean, I’m grateful for what I got because I feel like I got to know the kids and their situations enough to care about them and wish them the best, but getting a more in-depth story about their lives, their friendship with each other, and how they grew as they continued to attend the therapy sessions would be awesome.
Either way, it was an enjoyable read for me, so that’s a win in my book.
𖤓 Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own. 𖤓
《 Content Warnings 》
Divorce, self-harm, & mentions the loss of a spouse.
Swearing: Yes
Spice: No
〖 ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: We Are Not Alone by Karla Devito 〗
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 0:55 ───ㅇ───── 3:37
⋆ 𖤓 ⋆˚࿔ A group of heartbroken and distrustful teens who don’t want to do the therapy program (well, except for one), but learn that they are all hurting and have more things in common than their parents being divorced? Yeah, it was giving The Breakfast Club vibes, and I loved it!
My heart went out to the entire group of Safe Harbor’s therapy program. I know what it’s like to have front row seats to a contentious marriage, wondering where it all went wrong and when they stopped loving each other, if they loved each other at all. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have gone to a therapy session like Isabel and the others did when I was younger. Oh well. Better late than never.
Anyways, this is another short story in the series I wish were a full-length novel because I want to know more about Isabel, Gray, Preethi, Lilliam, Joey, and Ms. Waters. I mean, I’m grateful for what I got because I feel like I got to know the kids and their situations enough to care about them and wish them the best, but getting a more in-depth story about their lives, their friendship with each other, and how they grew as they continued to attend the therapy sessions would be awesome.
Either way, it was an enjoyable read for me, so that’s a win in my book.
𖤓 Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own. 𖤓
《 Content Warnings 》
Divorce, self-harm, & mentions the loss of a spouse.
Swearing: Yes
Spice: No
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
My favorite of Amazon's The Edge of Everything short story collection by far, Nicola Yoon's and David Yoon's Safe Harbor follows Isabel, an angry artist sent to the Safe Harbor therapy program for teenagers who aren't coping well with their parents' divorce. Finding herself on a college campus with four other teenagers and a therapist, spending the day forced to talk about uncomfortable feelings and family drama, the teens must learn to break down walls if they want to graduate from the program.
I've read a few YA books by Nicola Yoon, most of which I've really enjoyed, but I've read nothing by David Yoon so I can't begin to guess how the writing was divided in this short story. I can say though, that this story broke my heart and put it back together in the best possible way. I was immediately taken in by these characters, their circumstances and their stories and oh, how I wanted them to find their path through.
I really enjoyed the way the teens interacted with one another, particularly the way Isabel's art evolved to show how her opinions of everyone changed as she got to know them. There is a lot packed into such a short story, but I loved every carefully constructed word. If you only read one story in this series, let it be this one.
Thank you to Amazon Original Stories, NetGalley, Nicola Yoon and David Yoon for the advanced reader copy.
I've read a few YA books by Nicola Yoon, most of which I've really enjoyed, but I've read nothing by David Yoon so I can't begin to guess how the writing was divided in this short story. I can say though, that this story broke my heart and put it back together in the best possible way. I was immediately taken in by these characters, their circumstances and their stories and oh, how I wanted them to find their path through.
I really enjoyed the way the teens interacted with one another, particularly the way Isabel's art evolved to show how her opinions of everyone changed as she got to know them. There is a lot packed into such a short story, but I loved every carefully constructed word. If you only read one story in this series, let it be this one.
Thank you to Amazon Original Stories, NetGalley, Nicola Yoon and David Yoon for the advanced reader copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Safe Harbor is a story about teens who attend a therapy program for the children of divorced parents. It is told from the POV of Isabel, but we get snippets into the lives of the other teens, as well. I will start off with the thing that felt most realistic to me, and that was how each teen was dealing with their parents' divorce. There is no one size fits all reaction and it can manifest in different ways for different people. It also showed the many ways that the adults in these situations handle or maybe don't handle things with their kids. Now on the other hand, I had some issues with the therapy-side of things. The mental health provider in me also kept internally screaming at all the instances of dual relationships. Clients having access to your personal life, especially unintentionally, is iffy at best. I am not sure that I can get past this, but it would probably be less of an issue for others. The characters all experienced a ton of growth and an extremely truncated time due to the novella format and would have been more impactful for me at novel length. I would have loved more information on the other teens.
The audio production is a single narrator, but they are able to differentiate between characters of varying ages/genders. I was able to speed it up to 2x without issue.
Thanks to Brilliance and NetGalley for a chance to read and review this audiobook.
The audio production is a single narrator, but they are able to differentiate between characters of varying ages/genders. I was able to speed it up to 2x without issue.
Thanks to Brilliance and NetGalley for a chance to read and review this audiobook.
June 13, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for providing me with a copy of this title to read and review. The opinions here are my own.
I've really liked all the YA I've read from Nicola Yoon so I was excited for this short story, and she did not disappoint. This one is done with her husband, David, whose works I have not read. Not sure what she wrote and what he wrote but overall it was just fun.
If you are an 80s girl like me, you'll enjoy this one for sure. It gives off major Breakfast Club vibes: 5 kids go to a college campus on a Saturday where they participate in a group therapy session for teens of divorce. You'll see how each character compares to those from this movie: the jock, the nerd, the recluse, the princess. This made it so easy for me to relate to the story. I really enjoyed how well the characters are developed despite the shortness of the story.
The story revolves around divorce and how it affects teens who go through this process. How it might make them angry or might make them feel used by their parents as pawns. Each character experiences it differently and we get to see their stories and how they handle it. How their different character traits shape how they react to what is happening in their family.
This was my favorite story of this series.
I've really liked all the YA I've read from Nicola Yoon so I was excited for this short story, and she did not disappoint. This one is done with her husband, David, whose works I have not read. Not sure what she wrote and what he wrote but overall it was just fun.
If you are an 80s girl like me, you'll enjoy this one for sure. It gives off major Breakfast Club vibes: 5 kids go to a college campus on a Saturday where they participate in a group therapy session for teens of divorce. You'll see how each character compares to those from this movie: the jock, the nerd, the recluse, the princess. This made it so easy for me to relate to the story. I really enjoyed how well the characters are developed despite the shortness of the story.
The story revolves around divorce and how it affects teens who go through this process. How it might make them angry or might make them feel used by their parents as pawns. Each character experiences it differently and we get to see their stories and how they handle it. How their different character traits shape how they react to what is happening in their family.
This was my favorite story of this series.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Safe Harbor
by Nicola Yoon; David Yoon
Narrated by Alaska Jackson
Audiobook rating : 6 stars ( because it was really good)
Book rating : had to balance it out so 4 stars
Overall rating : 5 glowing stars
The narration was so spot on and the voice was so perfect for the story that I felt that character was actually the narrator. Amazing simply amazing experience.
This is a part of the Amazon original series - The edge of everything. Let me start by saying, I do not like YA books, especially with angsty teenagers who think their lives are the worst, their problems are the only problems that exist. I know I sound a bit selfish, okay let's say a lot selfish but I just can't not connect with angsty teenagers.
Safe harbor was about such angsty teenagers well except Priti maybe. I really really loved this book. I read it and then listened to it back to back twice. I really enjoyed it. To be honest, there's nothing special about it, but that's what made it an experience worth having. I totally hated everyone in the start and totally liked everyone in the end. And to achieve that in book below 50 pages is simply amazing. So yeah there's that.
I haven't read any book by Nicola Yoon but this book convinced me that I have to read books by her.
Thank you Netgalley, amazon original and brilliance audio for this amazing audiobook in exchange of an honest review.
by Nicola Yoon; David Yoon
Narrated by Alaska Jackson
Audiobook rating : 6 stars ( because it was really good)
Book rating : had to balance it out so 4 stars
Overall rating : 5 glowing stars
The narration was so spot on and the voice was so perfect for the story that I felt that character was actually the narrator. Amazing simply amazing experience.
This is a part of the Amazon original series - The edge of everything. Let me start by saying, I do not like YA books, especially with angsty teenagers who think their lives are the worst, their problems are the only problems that exist. I know I sound a bit selfish, okay let's say a lot selfish but I just can't not connect with angsty teenagers.
Safe harbor was about such angsty teenagers well except Priti maybe. I really really loved this book. I read it and then listened to it back to back twice. I really enjoyed it. To be honest, there's nothing special about it, but that's what made it an experience worth having. I totally hated everyone in the start and totally liked everyone in the end. And to achieve that in book below 50 pages is simply amazing. So yeah there's that.
I haven't read any book by Nicola Yoon but this book convinced me that I have to read books by her.
Thank you Netgalley, amazon original and brilliance audio for this amazing audiobook in exchange of an honest review.
June 17, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, Nicola Yoon and David Yoon for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon Short Stories Collections are usually a hit or miss and I am really glad to say this one was a big hit, especially Safe Harbor. Despite this being my first time reading anything by both Nicola and David, I am no stranger to Nicola’s works — they have been on my unending TBR forever — and I know they are the kind of books that make you feel a lot. What I did not expect was to read a short story about divorce a year after my own parents split up.
And boy, was I crying. It was like going through it all again but through the eyes of teenagers and finally having some guidance other than my therapist’s — who helped me plenty but sometimes you need to look at things from a different perspective. In this case, I had to read about troubled teenagers going through it.
I loved this story. I loved the characters and how raw and real they were. I loved the parallels of the sketches and the growth and how they were all flawed and were still flawed even in the end — despite overcoming their challenges. Honestly, the only flaw in this story was that it was, unfortunately, a short one.
Amazon Short Stories Collections are usually a hit or miss and I am really glad to say this one was a big hit, especially Safe Harbor. Despite this being my first time reading anything by both Nicola and David, I am no stranger to Nicola’s works — they have been on my unending TBR forever — and I know they are the kind of books that make you feel a lot. What I did not expect was to read a short story about divorce a year after my own parents split up.
And boy, was I crying. It was like going through it all again but through the eyes of teenagers and finally having some guidance other than my therapist’s — who helped me plenty but sometimes you need to look at things from a different perspective. In this case, I had to read about troubled teenagers going through it.
I loved this story. I loved the characters and how raw and real they were. I loved the parallels of the sketches and the growth and how they were all flawed and were still flawed even in the end — despite overcoming their challenges. Honestly, the only flaw in this story was that it was, unfortunately, a short one.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
“No one can see the end from the beginning”
Well, that was a surprise. I was expecting a simple love story set in a therapy program, but I wasn’t expecting such a character driven story with just a dash of romance.
Safe Harbor is a therapy program for children of divorced parents. Our main characters, Isabel and Gray, meet there and, yes, they fall in love but they also have deep conversations about love, marriage, and divorce in a way I couldn’t have predicted. Not only that, but the authors also managed to write a great group of characters, exploring their problems and serving as a nice reminder that these issues don’t get resolved in just one session.
I only have one small complaint: there is a six seven joke. Although the characters treat it as something cringy, I would still delete it if I could.
In conclusion, it is a great short story about mental health and the beginning of a romance between two people who didn’t believe in love.
“The truth is, none of us make it through life unscathed and unchanged. We change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Life can do a number on you”
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Well, that was a surprise. I was expecting a simple love story set in a therapy program, but I wasn’t expecting such a character driven story with just a dash of romance.
Safe Harbor is a therapy program for children of divorced parents. Our main characters, Isabel and Gray, meet there and, yes, they fall in love but they also have deep conversations about love, marriage, and divorce in a way I couldn’t have predicted. Not only that, but the authors also managed to write a great group of characters, exploring their problems and serving as a nice reminder that these issues don’t get resolved in just one session.
I only have one small complaint: there is a six seven joke. Although the characters treat it as something cringy, I would still delete it if I could.
In conclusion, it is a great short story about mental health and the beginning of a romance between two people who didn’t believe in love.
“The truth is, none of us make it through life unscathed and unchanged. We change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Life can do a number on you”
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
“The truth is, none of us make it through life unscathed and unchanged. We change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Life can do a number on you.”
The breakfast club but include children of divorce and a whole bunch of angsty teen drama and feelings. This was really enjoyable for such a quick read. I think it would have been excellent as a full length YA novel, however, the authors do a wonderful job of conveying the message in such a short amount of pages. We connect with each character and get a level of depth and insight into each of them, we see character development and we also get to take away some own reflections and beautiful quotes.
“All you can do is feel your feelings, give yourself some grace, and try to do the right thing. Just know this pain won’t last forever. You will absolutely come out the other side, and you’ll be different. You’ll get to know the new you. Even love them. You’ll be stronger in the broken places.”
The audio was enjoyable and the narrator themselves did a great job of making this an excellent immerseive read.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early eARC and ALC.
The breakfast club but include children of divorce and a whole bunch of angsty teen drama and feelings. This was really enjoyable for such a quick read. I think it would have been excellent as a full length YA novel, however, the authors do a wonderful job of conveying the message in such a short amount of pages. We connect with each character and get a level of depth and insight into each of them, we see character development and we also get to take away some own reflections and beautiful quotes.
“All you can do is feel your feelings, give yourself some grace, and try to do the right thing. Just know this pain won’t last forever. You will absolutely come out the other side, and you’ll be different. You’ll get to know the new you. Even love them. You’ll be stronger in the broken places.”
The audio was enjoyable and the narrator themselves did a great job of making this an excellent immerseive read.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early eARC and ALC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Six stories. Six crossroads. Endless possibilities.
🛥️ Safe Harbor: A group of teens from different backgrounds are unexpectedly brought together, forcing them to confront hidden truths, personal struggles, and the ways their lives intersect.
🎥 Julia at the Drive-In: A shy teenager pushes herself beyond her comfort zone during an outing with a friend that yields amazing results.
❄️ Winter Breakage: A reunion of college friends over winter break reveals changing relationships, lingering feelings, and the realities of growing up.
🎟️ The Price of Admission: Two teens from very different socioeconomic backgrounds form a connection that challenges their assumptions about privilege and belonging.
3️⃣ Three of Hearts: Three close friends find their relationships tested as love, attraction, and self-discovery complicate their long-standing dynamic.
📌 Back To You: A woman exhausted by the life she’s built is given an extraordinary opportunity to revisit her past and reconsider the choices that shaped her future.
Happy Pub Day to this new adult romance story collection.
CW: divorce, classism, bullying
🛥️ Safe Harbor: A group of teens from different backgrounds are unexpectedly brought together, forcing them to confront hidden truths, personal struggles, and the ways their lives intersect.
🎥 Julia at the Drive-In: A shy teenager pushes herself beyond her comfort zone during an outing with a friend that yields amazing results.
❄️ Winter Breakage: A reunion of college friends over winter break reveals changing relationships, lingering feelings, and the realities of growing up.
🎟️ The Price of Admission: Two teens from very different socioeconomic backgrounds form a connection that challenges their assumptions about privilege and belonging.
3️⃣ Three of Hearts: Three close friends find their relationships tested as love, attraction, and self-discovery complicate their long-standing dynamic.
📌 Back To You: A woman exhausted by the life she’s built is given an extraordinary opportunity to revisit her past and reconsider the choices that shaped her future.
Happy Pub Day to this new adult romance story collection.
CW: divorce, classism, bullying
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I have loved every novella in the Edge of Everything series, each one highlighting a different aspect of the joys and struggles of coming of age.
This installment focuses on divorce and its often overlooked casualties: the children. It's a story about healing and the complicated emotions that come with being a teenager, an age when every feeling seems magnified and every setback feels permanent. Standing at the precipice of adulthood is exhausting. I'm grateful I'm no longer a teenager, but I have enjoyed revisiting those emotions for 30–40 pages at a time.
This story serves as a gentle reminder that pain is universal, but it doesn't last forever. Our broken pieces don't make us less; they reshape us into something stronger. May we all have someone as kind and empathetic as Ms. Waters in our lives when we need it most.
Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, Nicola Yoon, and David Yoon for the advance reader copy. This review is voluntary, and all opinions are my own.
This installment focuses on divorce and its often overlooked casualties: the children. It's a story about healing and the complicated emotions that come with being a teenager, an age when every feeling seems magnified and every setback feels permanent. Standing at the precipice of adulthood is exhausting. I'm grateful I'm no longer a teenager, but I have enjoyed revisiting those emotions for 30–40 pages at a time.
This story serves as a gentle reminder that pain is universal, but it doesn't last forever. Our broken pieces don't make us less; they reshape us into something stronger. May we all have someone as kind and empathetic as Ms. Waters in our lives when we need it most.
Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, Nicola Yoon, and David Yoon for the advance reader copy. This review is voluntary, and all opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The way this story took me on a rollercoaster of emotions in under 50 pages is a testament to the phenomenal writing of Nicola and David Yoon. I was immediately invested in all six of the main characters, and the journey was one to remember.
I’m not a child of divorce, but I am the youngest of thirteen children between my parents who both had multiple relationships before they met each other. And despite not coming from a “broken” home, I can deeply relate to the terror of a first therapy session. It’s incredibly hard to be vulnerable with strangers, and it’s even harder when you’re a teenager with a turbulent home life. But I felt so proud of each of the kids as they opened up and grew bit by bit.
For such a short story, this was emotional and thoughtful. And while I wouldn’t mind exploring these characters further, it felt like a complete story.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will be reading more by these authors.
Thank you to Amazon and Nicola and David Yoon for the free review copy via NetGalley.
I’m not a child of divorce, but I am the youngest of thirteen children between my parents who both had multiple relationships before they met each other. And despite not coming from a “broken” home, I can deeply relate to the terror of a first therapy session. It’s incredibly hard to be vulnerable with strangers, and it’s even harder when you’re a teenager with a turbulent home life. But I felt so proud of each of the kids as they opened up and grew bit by bit.
For such a short story, this was emotional and thoughtful. And while I wouldn’t mind exploring these characters further, it felt like a complete story.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will be reading more by these authors.
Thank you to Amazon and Nicola and David Yoon for the free review copy via NetGalley.
June 24, 2026
Safe Harbor by Nicola Yoon and David Yoon follows five teenagers who meet in therapy because of their parents’ divorces, and honestly, that is exactly what this short book feels like: something written by teenagers. The idea itself had potential, especially for younger readers going through a similar situation, but for me, it lacked depth, strong personalities and believable conversations.
The characters are supposed to be around seventeen, but they often feel and talk more like thirteen-year-olds. Their conversations rarely had the complexity I expected from older teenagers, which made it harder to take them seriously or connect with them. I did enjoy the “screenager”, though. That one definitely stood out.
For teenagers dealing with divorce themselves, this might be an okay and possibly comforting read. Outside of that, I struggled to see what the book really added. Even the therapist seemed to bring very little value to the story and did not fully come across as an adult herself, which left me wondering if that was somehow the point all along.
The characters are supposed to be around seventeen, but they often feel and talk more like thirteen-year-olds. Their conversations rarely had the complexity I expected from older teenagers, which made it harder to take them seriously or connect with them. I did enjoy the “screenager”, though. That one definitely stood out.
For teenagers dealing with divorce themselves, this might be an okay and possibly comforting read. Outside of that, I struggled to see what the book really added. Even the therapist seemed to bring very little value to the story and did not fully come across as an adult herself, which left me wondering if that was somehow the point all along.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Safe Harbor by Nicola Yoon and David Yoon is a short story that is part of the Edge of Everything young adult series from Amazon Originals. There are six titles in this collection of coming of age stories, and it's just as delightful as its peers. I was not familiar with the authors, but I am happy to have come across this story and to get a chance to read authors who are new to me.
Isabel has been acting out and is forced to attend the titular Safe Harbor, a therapy group for children of divorce. The group of five teens has a wide variety of backgrounds and issues, but after a rocky start, they form bonds among themselves and even with the therapist who leads the group. It's a heartfelt and hopeful story that would be perfect for kids going through their own parents' divorce, and for anyone who enjoys touching little stories about growing up.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Isabel has been acting out and is forced to attend the titular Safe Harbor, a therapy group for children of divorce. The group of five teens has a wide variety of backgrounds and issues, but after a rocky start, they form bonds among themselves and even with the therapist who leads the group. It's a heartfelt and hopeful story that would be perfect for kids going through their own parents' divorce, and for anyone who enjoys touching little stories about growing up.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I received an advanced copy for Amazon and NetGalley. This review reflects my honest opinions.
THIS ONE WAS MY FAVORITE! What a beautiful, heartbreaking, heart-mending story. This was like if the Breakfast Club was all strictly children of divorce and it couldn’t be a more perfect fictional representation of navigating what it’s like to realize that marriage doesn’t mean forever for everyone and that even parents are humans, too.
What blew me away was realizing that a husband and wife, who are equally and separately so talented in their own work, wrote this together and made it so seamless. I loved every.single.character. I related to every character. And I felt a bit healed by each of their stories.
This wasn’t just thought-provoking, it was also at times funny and had me in tears. What an excellent coming-of-age story about something so many people of any age could find themselves in.
THIS ONE WAS MY FAVORITE! What a beautiful, heartbreaking, heart-mending story. This was like if the Breakfast Club was all strictly children of divorce and it couldn’t be a more perfect fictional representation of navigating what it’s like to realize that marriage doesn’t mean forever for everyone and that even parents are humans, too.
What blew me away was realizing that a husband and wife, who are equally and separately so talented in their own work, wrote this together and made it so seamless. I loved every.single.character. I related to every character. And I felt a bit healed by each of their stories.
This wasn’t just thought-provoking, it was also at times funny and had me in tears. What an excellent coming-of-age story about something so many people of any age could find themselves in.
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